The storm did not arrive with a warning.
It arrived with silence, unannounced.
A heavy, pressing kind of silence that wrapped around Volkov Tower like a second skin, thick, suffocating, waiting to snap.
Natalia felt it the moment she opened her eyes.
Dimitri was not beside her.
The sheets were still warm, faintly carrying his scent of cedar and smoke, but the man himself was nowhere in sight.
Her heart lurched.
She slipped out of bed, wrapping his black robe around herself as she crossed the suite. The living room was dim, lit only by the fading glow of the skyline. Dawn was barely brushing the horizon, but Dimitri was already standing at the far window, his suit jacket discarded, sleeves rolled up, tension carved into every muscle.
She stepped closer. "You did not sleep."
His jaw flexed once, twice. " I could not sleep."
"Because of last night?"
"Because of what comes next."
